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Science-fiction television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Altered Carbon is an American cyberpunk television series created by Laeta Kalogridis and based on the 2002 novel of the same title by English author Richard K. Morgan.[1] In a world where consciousness can be transferred to different bodies, Takeshi Kovacs, a former soldier turned investigator, is released from prison in order to solve a murder. The first season consists of ten episodes and premiered on Netflix on February 2, 2018.[2] On July 27, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season of eight episodes,[3] which was released on February 27, 2020, with an anime film set before the first season released on March 19, 2020. Though the series received generally positive reviews, it was canceled after two seasons.[4]
Altered Carbon | |
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Genre | Cyberpunk |
Created by | Laeta Kalogridis |
Based on | Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan |
Starring | |
Composers | Jeff Russo Jordan Gagne |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 18 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | John G. Lenic |
Running time | 46–66 minutes |
Production companies | Virago Productions Mythology Entertainment Phoenix Pictures Skydance Television |
Original release | |
Network | Netflix |
Release | February 2, 2018 – February 27, 2020 |
The series starts 360 years in the future,[5][6] with most episodes of the first season set in the year 2384 in a futuristic metropolis known as Bay City.[7] In the future, a person's memories and consciousness (termed digital human freight, or DHF) are recorded onto a disk-shaped device called a cortical stack, which is implanted in the vertebrae at the back of the neck. These storage devices are of alien design and have been reverse-engineered and mass-produced but can only be made from the material on Harlan's World. Physical human or synthetic bodies are called "sleeves" and stacks can be transferred to new bodies after death, but a person can still be killed if their stack is destroyed and there is no backup. Only the wealthiest, known as "Meths" in reference to Methuselah, have the means to change bodies through clones and remote storage of their consciousness in satellites, so they never have to die of old age before being resleeved.[7]
Takeshi Kovacs, a political operative with mercenary skills, is the sole surviving soldier of the Envoys, a rebel group defeated in an uprising against the new world order.[8] In the first season, set 250 years after the Envoys are destroyed, his stack is pulled out of prison by 300-year-old Meth Laurens Bancroft, one of the wealthiest men in the settled worlds. Bancroft offers him the chance to solve a murder—Bancroft's own—to get a new shot at life.
The second season takes place in the early 2410s, set 30 years after the first season: Kovacs, now in a new sleeve, continues to search for his lost love and Envoy leader Quellcrist Falconer.[9]
Netflix ordered the series in January 2016, fifteen years after Laeta Kalogridis optioned the novel with the intent of making a feature film.[2] According to Kalogridis, the complex nature of the novel and its R-rated material meant that it was a tough sell for studios before Netflix ordered the series.[2] The show was one of a number of dramas commissioned in short order by Netflix, which had committed to spending $5 billion on original content.[1]
Kalogridis wrote the script and served as executive producer and showrunner.[1] Steve Blackman served as co-showrunner.[2] David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross of Skydance Television also served as producers, as well as Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt of Kalogridis' Mythology Entertainment.[1] Miguel Sapochnik directed the pilot episode.[2][10] Morgan served as a consultant during the show's production.[27]
The series was reportedly the most expensive Netflix production to date.[28] The production costs were not disclosed but Kinnaman said it had "bigger budget than the first three seasons of Game of Thrones".[9]
Ann Foley served as costume designer. The production crew fitted about 2,000 costumers and custom made at least 500 pieces for the show, and emphasized "grounded" looks for future fashion but figured in specific details, such as a unique palette for Meth characters and subtle costume changes when different people are inhabiting the same sleeve.[29]
The series is produced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[28] Laurens Bancroft's gardens was filmed in University of British Columbia Rose Garden and the lobby of the Marine Building served as Bancroft's home. The old Canada Post building was used as the location of The Wei Clinic, where Kovacs was tortured. Scenes with the Envoys were filmed on the Sea to Sky Gondola suspension bridge, in Squamish. Other Vancouver locations include the Convention Centre's West Building, the visitor centre at VanDusen Botanical Garden, the UBC Museum of Anthropology and The Qube.[30]
The series contains references to several earlier cyberpunk classics, such as Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell, as well as several literary works, such as the stories of Edgar Allan Poe.[31]
Altered Carbon was renewed for a second season in July 2018. Anthony Mackie took over the lead role of Takeshi Kovacs, replacing the first season lead star Joel Kinnaman. Additionally, Alison Schapker joined the series as co-showrunner alongside Laeta Kalogridis.[3] On May 23, 2019, it was announced that Schapker would be the primary showrunner for the series, replacing Laeta Kalogridis who is still credited as an executive producer.[32]
On August 26, 2020, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons. The decision had been made in April and was not related to COVID-19, but a result of the standard process used by Netflix to calculate the viewership versus the renewal costs.[4]
The first season is based on Richard Morgan's 2002 novel Altered Carbon. While most of the major plot points in the book are retained, the adaptation featured several major changes for characters and organizations.[33] In the novel, the Envoys are elite soldiers of the United Nations Protectorate based on Earth, quite the opposite of the freedom-fighting rebels of the show, originating from Harlan's World, where Kovacs was born.
In the book, Kovacs was imprisoned for his freelance work after leaving the Envoys, while in the show, Kovacs is a captured rebel. The character of Reileen Kawahara in the novel was merely Kovacs' ruthless underworld boss and had no blood relation with him, in contrast to their sibling relationship in the show. The Envoy who trained Kovacs in the book was Virginia Vidaura. The show's Vidaura is only a minor character. Instead, his trainer is given the name and backstory of Quellcrist Falconer, who in book three is the historical messiah-like figure.[34] Falconer's rebellion occurred not during Kovacs' training, as in the show, but long before Kovacs was born in the books.
The Hendrix is an AI character in the novel; it runs the hotel and takes the form of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix's estate declined to license his image for the television series because of its violence. Instead, showrunner Kalogridis chose the likeness of Edgar Allan Poe and a Victorian era hotel for the replacement Poe character and said it would juxtapose well with the futuristic Bay City.[35]
On November 7, 2018, Netflix announced a spin-off anime film serving to "expand the universe" of the series and new elements of the story mythology was in active development. Titled Altered Carbon: Resleeved, the feature uses character designs by manga artist Yasuo Ōtagaki, is written by Dai Satō and Tsukasa Kondo, directed by Takeru Nakajima and Yoshiyuki Okada, produced by Anima, and features an original music score by Keigo Hoashi Kinuyiki Takahashi from Monaca. The film was released on March 19, 2020.[36][37][38][39]
On Rotten Tomatoes, Altered Carbon: Resleeved has an approval rating of 60% based on reviews from 5 critics.[40] David Griffin of IGN gave it 6 out of 10, called it "a diverting entry in the Takeshi Kovacs saga that excels in the action department while neglecting to fully develop its main characters in a way that makes a lasting impact."[41] John Serba of Decider.com wrote: "Resleeved won't knock anyone's socks off, but it effectively pleases newcomers and hardcores alike."[42] Paul Tassi of Forbes said Altered Carbon: Resleeved was "not worth watching, even for fans" comparing it to a video game but without the interactivity.[43]
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
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1 | 1 | "Out of the Past" | Miguel Sapochnik | Laeta Kalogridis | February 2, 2018 | |
Takeshi Kovacs and a female companion are in a hotel room on a distant planet when they are attacked by Protectorate security forces. They fight back but are overwhelmed and gunned down. 250 years later, Kovacs is resurrected in a new body on Earth, having been traced and bought by a member of the wealthy elite (known as Meths). His buyer, Laurens Bancroft, wants him to investigate his own death, which he believes was a murder. Kovacs is an Envoy, an long-extinct rebel group with incredible abilities of discernment. In exchange for solving the murder, Bancroft promises Kovacs a protectorate pardon and vast wealth. Kovacs is also questioned by Kristen Ortega, a police detective who previously investigated the Bancroft killing and concluded that it was suicide. Ortega is alarmed after discovering Kovac's identity but is surprised when he tells her that he intends to turn down Bancroft's offer and go back into storage. Kovac wanders the streets, buys drugs and has visions of his sister. He checks into a hotel run by an AI styled after Edgar Allen Poe, where he is intercepted by a hitman called Dimitri, who appears to know who Kovac is and intends to kidnap him. The kidnapping is foiled when the hotel intervenes to save its new client. As Kovacs has been gone for 250 years, he believes someone really did kill Bancroft and takes the case. | ||||||
2 | 2 | "Fallen Angel" | Nick Hurran | Steve Blackman | February 2, 2018 | |
Kovacs meets Prescott, the Bancrofts' lawyer and visits their resurrection facility, where clones of the entire family are kept, to learn more about the case. He questions Laurens about his activities, who takes offense and threatens Kovac, but offers grudging respect when Kovac doesn't flinch. Kovac investigates death threats made against Bancroft and learns the identity of a man who threatened to kill Bancroft in a remarkably similar way to how he died. He visits the man, Vernon Elliot, a former marine who blames Bancroft for assaulting his daughter, Lizzie. Elliot fights Kovac but is beaten and subdued. Kovacs discovers that Elliot is keeping Lizzie's mind in a virtual environment but she is too traumatised to speak. Lizzie's mother is a hacker and is in prison. Kovac concludes Elliot didn't kill Bancroft as this would mean abandoning Lizzie. Kovac discovers Lizzie was a prostitute and Bancroft used to visit her establishment. He goes there and convinces one of the girls, Anemone, to help find information for him, but is attacked after leaving, first by Elliot, then by other thugs, before being arrested by Ortega, who had planted an illegal tracker on him. Kovac is quickly released and goes back to the hotel, where Mrs Bancroft is waiting for him and seduces him. | ||||||
3 | 3 | "In a Lonely Place" | Nick Hurran | Brian Nelson | February 2, 2018 | |
A young woman's body falls out of the sky into a river. Poe tells Kovacs that a spy drone was in his room and recorded footage of him with Mrs Bancroft. Laurens invites Kovacs to a party at the Bancroft mansion. Laurens has invited all the people he suspects could have killed him so that Kovac can meet and question them. Ortega's mother visits her and over dinner they argue about resurrection technology. Ortega's mother objects to it on religious grounds but as a detective Ortega believes it is invaluable for identifying murderers since the victim can be asked what happened to them. Kovac decides to hire Elliot to act as his backup at the mansion party, in exchange for which Poe helps Lizzie to recover. Poe reconnects with other AI hoteliers, who haven't seen him for 50 years, however he leaves in disgust when they mock his interest in human beings. At the Bancroft residence, Kovacs talks to guests but doesn't learn anything. When Kovac sees Bancroft's son, Issac, bullying some guests he intervenes and physically restrains him, before being rebuked by Prescott. Ortega also attends the party sees a mysterious figure who doesn't show up on security cameras; when Kovac is drawn into a gladiatorial fight as part of the evening's entertainment, Ortega intervenes and stops the fight. Kovac goes back to see Anemone, who agreed to help him but he is betrayed and captured, and Anemone is killed. | ||||||
4 | 4 | "Force of Evil" | Alex Graves | Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner | February 2, 2018 | |
An unconscious Kovac is held in a clinic, where his mind is connected to a virtual interrogation room. He is tortured by Dimi the twin, who was killed in the hotel shootout but survived because he is double-sleeved. Dimi believes Kovac is a cop called Elias Riker. To survive the ordeal, Kovac recalls his Envoy training by Quellcrist Falconer, who taught him to how to endure virtual torture. Ortega's family prepare a meal at her apartment for Los Muertos. Ortega uses a perp's body as a sleeve for her deceased grandmother, so that she can enjoy the festive meal with her family. At the meal, her family argues over resurrection. Back at the police station, Ortega's grandmother thanks her for the evening but requests that she doesn't spin her back up again. She tries to find more information on the mysterious figure (known as the ghostwalker as he has technology that obscures him from cameras) but to no avail. Kovac manages to pull himself out of the virtual environment and wakes up. He sees that the clinic has been harvesting Anemone's organs. Kovac convinces the staff he is a C-Tac officer, which scares them into releasing him. Once freed Kovac grabs his weapons and kills everyone in the clinic. Ortega visits the crime scene and discovers the tracker she had put on Kovac. She confronts him but when Kovac threatens to harm Riker's body she backs off and agrees to tell him the truth about their relationship. | ||||||
5 | 5 | "The Wrong Man" | Uta Briesewitz | Nevin Densham | February 2, 2018 | |
In a flashback, Elias Riker beats up and threatens to kill a resurrection officer over the death of a childhood friend, Mary Lou. Riker believes there is a conspiracy because she cannot be resurrected due to religious protections, but Riker knew she wasn't religious. Ortega intervenes, releases the officer and persuades Riker there was no conspiracy and he breaks down. Later, Riker is arrested for killing the same man although he protests his innocence. In the present, Kovac and Ortega realise that Riker was framed for the murder by Dimi the twin and there is a connection to the Bancroft case since the first Dimi at the hotel knew who Kovac was. After getting a tip from Poe, they go to a fighting pit run by an AI called Carnage. Kovac is disturbed when he sees his previous body in storage at the arena. Carnage reluctantly shows Kovac & Ortega recorded footage of Bancroft violently assaulting his son Isaac at the arena. They break into Isaac's home and discover he is secretly making clones of his father so that he can act as him, giving him motive and opportunity to kill his father and replace him. Kovac and Ortega become lovers and Ortega tells Kovac about the ghostwalker she saw at Bancroft's party. At the police station, Kovac and Ortega have Dimi the twin resleeved and interrogate him, but they get no answers. As they are leaving, Kovac sees the ghostwalker approach Ortega, her partner and Dimi but too late to do anything. The ghostwalker attacks, Ortega is gravely wounded and her partner is killed. | ||||||
6 | 6 | "Man with My Face" | Alex Graves | Steve Blackman | February 2, 2018 | |
Kovac takes Ortega to hospital and pays for her treatment, including a new cybernetic arm. He visits the Bancrofts and exposes Isaac's cloning, however he realises that Isaac didn't kill his father and just wants his respect. In a rage, Bancroft violently smashes up his cloned body in front of his horrified family before calmly thanking Kovac for the information. The police chief visits Ortega with flowers but Kovac deduces that he has been taking bribes from the meths to not record crimes that could lead back to them. The chief protests that he had no idea they would be attacked but a furious Ortega beats him and leaves the hospital with Kovac. Poe continues to make progress with Lizzie but when Elliot intervenes unexpectedly, she relapses. After realising that the ghostwalker intends to kill him, Dimi the twin flees and gets refuge with Carnage at the Fight Drome, where he acquires Kovac's previous sleeve. Ortega and Kovac are ambushed by Dimi and are taken to the fight drome, where they are forced to participate in a fight to the death by Carnage. At first they fight well against Carnage's minions but are surprise-attacked by Dimi using poison blades, who injures both of them. Despite suffering grievous wounds, together Kovac and Ortega gain the upper hand, killing Dimi for good by ripping out his stack, which Ortega then crushes with her bionic arm. Carnage tries to finish them off but a mysterious warrior appears and kills multiple guards, causing everyone to panic and flee. The warrior is revealed to be Kovac's sister, Reileen. | ||||||
7 | 7 | "Nora Inu" | Andy Goddard | Nevin Densham & Casey Fisher | February 2, 2018 | |
Kovac is near death from the effects of the poison and Reileen wants to move him into a new sleeve, however she relents when he insists that Riker's body must be saved. In a flashback, Kovac and Reileen as children witness their father kill their mother and dispose of her body. Kovac kills his father to save his younger sister. Kovac is held captive for his crime and recruited by an officer called Jaeger into C-Tac, the protectorate's elite military force. Kovac is told that Reileen will enjoy a safe upbringing with a loving family however this is a lie. Years later during an operation against Yakuza on Harlan's World, Kovac encounters Reileen again. Kovac and Reileen kill both the Yakuza and C-Tac to escape together. On the run, they hide deep in the forest and are found by the Envoys, led by Quellcrist Falconer. They join the Envoys and grow closer to the group, but Reileen is conflicted when Quellcrist explains her plan to eliminate resurrection by hacking the DHF signals at the protectorate's central core. After a mission goes wrong and Kovac is captured by Jaeger, he is saved by Quell. She confides in him that she is the scientist who created DHF and is trying to atone for it. She and Kovac sleep together. The next morning the Envoys are attacked by C-Tac and wiped out. Quell and Reileen try to escape on a shuttle but it is destroyed in mid-air, which Kovac witnesses. Back in the present, a restored Kovac figures out that Reileen survived the attack because her DHF was already backed up and therefore she betrayed the Envoys. | ||||||
8 | 8 | "Clash by Night" | Uta Briesewitz | Brian Nelson | February 2, 2018 | |
Kovac is distraught by Reileen's treachery. She tells him she didn't want to die for a cause she didn't believe in, she wanted to live instead and in the intervening years, she became a wealthy and powerful meth. Reileen recommended Kovac to Bancroft to get him out of storage, however she tells him that he must now close the case since it is damaging her interests. The ghostwalker works for Reileen and she threatens the lives of everyone Kovac knows if he doesn't comply. Kovac gets Ava Elliot released to help him, although she is sleeved in a male body. Ortega tracks down Kovac but to save her life from the ghostwalker, Kovac cruelly dismisses her. At the hotel, Ava is reunited with her family, including Lizzie, who recognises her immediately. Poe plays a card game with another hotel AI and infects it with rawling virus, the same weapon used to kill the Envoys. Ava then creates fake street camera footage showing Bancroft entering a whorehouse run by the infected AI. At the Bancroft residence, Kovac uses the doctored footage as evidence that Bancroft visited the whorehouse after a business deal, where he got infected with rawling. The only way to stop the virus spreading was to kill himself. Kovac implicates family lawyer Prescott, saying she intended to kill Bancroft as she knew his satellite back-up would spread the rawling to every clone. The family accepts the ruse and Bancroft fires Prescott on the spot, before giving Kovac his reward and pardon. Ortega uses some of Reileen's DNA from the Fight Drome to track down her cloning facility. The clones wake up and attack Ortega, who shoots them all. Ortega then finds a little boy alone and comforts him, unaware that he is also one of Reileen's sleeves. | ||||||
9 | 9 | "Rage in Heaven" | Peter Hoar | Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner | February 2, 2018 | |
After Reileen issues a violent ultimatum, Kovacs and his associates plot to infiltrate her ship. | ||||||
10 | 10 | "The Killers" | Peter Hoar | Laeta Kalogridis & Nevin Densham | February 2, 2018 | |
Everything is revealed as Kovacs confronts Reileen for the last time, and Lizzie faces the Bancrofts. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
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11 | 1 | "Phantom Lady" | Ciaran Donnelly | Laeta Kalogridis | February 27, 2020 | |
30 years after the Bancroft case, Axley, a Meth, locates Kovacs and offers him a job to protect him. Kovacs wakes up in an enhanced sleeve to find Axley and his security murdered, and Kovacs flees. Kovacs finds himself on the planet of Harlan's World, now under the control of Danica, the daughter of Konrad, the founder. Danica is in the process of negotiating a ceasefire between two warring sides over mining access. Kovacs recruits help from Tanaseda Hideki and get hotel Nevermore as his hideout. Colonel Carrera takes over the investigation of Axley's murder and blames it on Kovacs. Kovacs is suspicious of his missing memories and realizes that Quell was there when Axley was murdered. | ||||||
12 | 2 | "Payment Deferred" | Ciaran Donnelly | Sarah Nicole Jones | February 27, 2020 | |
Colonel Carrera leads the Axley murder investigation and reveals that his unit is composed entirely of upgraded sleeves like the one that Kovacs is using. Carrera pressures Danica to continue her conflict with the miners, while Danica tries to figure out a way to make Carrera leave the planet, thus reducing the control of the Protectorate. Kovacs looks for Axley's bounty hunter, Trepp, and from the information that he gathers from her, finds two of Axley's cohorts, Anton and Haruki, in a club. Quell arrives and kills all the people in the club including Anton and Haruki, but she escapes before Carrera arrives and captures Kovacs. Poe experiences worsening memory issues and resists the urging from Kovacs that he must reboot. | ||||||
13 | 3 | "Nightmare Alley" | M. J. Bassett | Michael R. Perry | February 27, 2020 | |
Kovacs is questioned by Carrera and Danica about the supposed weapon that can destroy all DHF backups, causing permanent death. Danica sentences Kovacs to die in the Circle, a televised gladiatorial event. Carrera extracts the memories of those that Kovacs loved and realizes who Kovacs is. Carrera reveals that he is Jaeger, Kovacs's former leader, and then drugs him before the Circle begins. Kovacs enters the arena and is forced to fight mercenaries that appear to be his friends Ortega, Rei, and Elliot. Poe attempts to rescue Kovacs, and teams up with an archaeological AI, Dig 301, to disrupt the power supply to the arena. The fourth mercenary to enter the Circle was supposed to appear as Quell, but she was replaced by the actual Quell to help Kovacs escape. A Quell sympathizer cuts power to the Circle, and the two escape. Trepp's bounty to find her brother is unsuccessful and she ends up in prison for beating a miner. Trepp and Myka lose all their savings to get Trepp out of prison. Trepp decides to find Kovacs because of his increasingly high bounty. Jaeger activates project Evergreen. | ||||||
14 | 4 | "Shadow of a Doubt" | M. J. Bassett | Sang Kyu Kim | February 27, 2020 | |
Quell tries to piece together her memories. Trepp finds Kovacs location, which upsets Kovacs and he hires Dig 301 while firing Poe. Carrera threatens Tanaseda Hideki for helping Kovacs. Kovacs makes a deal with Trepp to find her brother, Anil Imani. Dugan decides not to leave Harlan and keep an eye on Danica. Kovacs approaches Tanaseda and he agrees to get Kovacs and Quell off the planet. Tanaseda intrudes into Danica's Harlan party and gets permission for two people to transfer out of the planet. Meanwhile, Carrera tortures techs from sector B political prison which makes Danica nervous. Danica straps the techs in Harlan's celebration rocket fireworks. Angelfire is revealed as the laser defense system in the orbit which shoots down the firework rockets. Quell murders Tanaseda and his DHF backups same as Axley. Dugan sees the symbol that Kovacs was trying to find the answer for and tries to escape Harlan but is also murdered by Quell. Kovacs realizes that Quell is killing the founders: Dugan, Tanaseda, Axley, Anton, Haruki, and Konrad Harlan. Quell destroys the main transfer point and disables interstellar travel for everyone on the planet. Jaeger's project evergreen is to double sleeve Takashi Kovacs using an old copy of his stack. | ||||||
15 | 5 | "I Wake up Screaming" | Jeremy Webb | Cortney Norris | February 27, 2020 | |
Kovacs and Trepp return to the hotel to find Quell there. Quell has no idea what got into her and why she is killing the founders. Poe decides to question Konrad Harlan and head into VR. Jaeger's resurrected Kovacs is motivated by Jaeger by pinning his sister Rei's death on Kovacs. Kovacs prime investigates Tanaseda's residence to find the location of the Kovacs. Tanaseda's great-grandson leads Kovacs prime to Nevermore hotel but Kovacs, Quell, and Trepp escape. Kovacs prime overrides Dig 301 using the root password and extracts information out of her. Kovacs guides Quell and Trepp to Stronghold in hopes of recovering Quell's memories and running into Kemp. Danica leaks Quell's videos to instill panic and enact provision 532 to gain absolute control over Harlan. Poe finds that Harlan is not in VR and is hidden somewhere else. He escapes from VR by spreading the nanomites affliction he is affected with. Quell incapacitates Trepp with a neck-hold and flees. Kovacs fights Kovacs prime but is thrown off a cliff edge. | ||||||
16 | 6 | "Bury Me Dead" | Jeremy Webb | Adam Lash & Cori Uchida | February 27, 2020 | |
Quell reaches the lake next to Stronghold and regains all her memories. Kovacs prime approaches her as the real Kovacs to find out about the weapon. Quell takes Kovacs prime to the place where Rei had kept her buried for centuries. Even with Jaeger constantly trying to convince Kovacs prime, Kovacs prime starts to understand the reason for the Kovacs' actions. Trepp rescues Kovacs and they take out 2 members of Carrera's team. The remaining members are taken out by Kemp and his followers. Quell passes the Envoy test and regains the trust of Kemp and his followers. However, Trepp realizes that Kemp is deceiving them and informs Quell. Kovacs talks to Kovacs prime and he understands the truth about Jaeger and how he had betrayed them. Kovacs prime switches sides. Danica takes over the control of Carrera's operation and Kemp reveals that he works for Danica. Danica arrests Carrera for double-sleeve violation. Protectorate soldiers are slaughtered by Angelfire while they close in on Kovacs, Quell, Trepp, and Kovacs prime. | ||||||
17 | 7 | "Experiment Perilous" | Salli Richardson-Whitfield | Nevin Densham | February 27, 2020 | |
Quell's sleeve starts to break down. Kovacs prime is left behind and is retrieved by Danica's soldiers. Danica is now more focused to capture Quell since Quell seemed to have control over Angelfire. Trepp finds out that her brother Anil found Quell and was infected by the same invader that is hacking Quell's stack. Danica makes a deal with Jaeger and he recruits Kovacs prime in distrust to help him. Poe and Ms. Dig build a construct and send Quell and Kovacs to VR, unaware that Jaeger and Kovacs prime also sneak into the construct. Trepp borrows Kovacs body to save TJ and Myka. Jaeger can lure Kovacs prime back on his side and sends him out of the construct, leaving Jaeger stuck inside. Kovacs learns that an elder was borrowing Quell's body which is why Quell was able to control Angelfire. The elder wanted revenge on the Founders for the massacre of the elder's children they committed. Quell escapes out of the construct, while Jaeger and the elder are stuck in it. Ms. Dig finds out that she is being tracked and shuts herself down. Jaeger is consumed by the elder who plans to destroy everything since Quell broke her promise. | ||||||
18 | 8 | "Broken Angels" | Salli Richardson-Whitfield | Alison Schapker & Elizabeth Padden | February 27, 2020 | |
Jaeger, consumed by the elder, starts to get materials to control the Orbitals and begins to reorient the nodes for Angelfire. Kovacs believes that the only way to subdue the elder and save Harlan is to hand over Konrad Harlan to the elder so that the elder can complete its mission. However, they find out that Danica had already killed Konrad Harlan and destroyed his stack along with all the backups. Poe tries to find the convergence point for Angelfire but keeps glitching. Poe realizes that he will have to reboot else he will not be able to function anymore. However, the reboot is akin to death since he will forget everything. Kovacs plans to offer the broken stack of Konrad Harlan to appease the elder. Quell reveals her backup plan: killing Jaeger and taking the elder, thus enabling her to redirect Angelfire on herself to destroy the elder along with her. When Quell, Kovacs, and Danica approach the elder, Danica double-crosses them and tries to kill the elder to obtain control over Angelfire, but she is killed by the elder instead. Poe's reboot starts in between the skirmish, disabling him to assist. Quell, Kovacs, and Kovacs prime fight the elder, until Kovacs swaps places while Kovacs prime holds Quell down. Kovacs kills Jaeger, and after allowing the elder to infect him, redirects Angelfire upon himself. Elder and Kovacs experience real death. In the aftermath, Quell and Kovacs prime survive and continue on their paths. Dig, having renamed herself Annabelle, takes over the Nevermore. After three months she is reunited with an amnesiac Poe and it is revealed his final act before rebooting was to back up a DHF, implied to be Kovacs. |
Human-machine interface, gender identity, technology and society, cyberspace and objective reality, hyper-urbanization that passes up urban planning, artificial intelligence, paranoia.
A key concept in Netflix's cyberpunk series Altered Carbon is the 'stack', an advanced hard drive installed on the brainstem on which a person can save a copy of their consciousness. The main effect of stack technology is a form of immortality, because a stack can be installed into another body if the original body dies. But there's another major implication only hinted at during the first season of Altered Carbon: If you could choose your own body, would you go with the one you were born with? That's an especially important question for gender fluid or transgender people. The topic was only hinted at in the first season, but Altered Carbon creator Laeta Kalogridis told The Wrap it's something she would like to explore in greater detail.[45]
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 70% based on 97 reviews, and an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Altered Carbon leans hard into its cyberpunk roots, serving up an ambitiously pulpy viewing experience that often overwhelms, but never bores."[46] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[47]
David Griffin of IGN said the show "gets almost everything right" as a "cyberpunk fantasyland". Griffin praised the visuals and the complexity of the plot, as well as the acting, such as Chris Conner's performance as the AI hotel manager Poe. He also wrote of the show's problems, such as the intricacies of the murder often got "in the way of the show's momentum" and the murder plot "loses steam" early on. He ultimately gave it a score of 8.8 out of 10, summarizing it as "A visual titan with a less than stellar story."[48] Michael Rougeau of GameSpot made a point of calling it "hardcore" science fiction, as a "noir sci-fi/gumshoe thriller bursting with the trappings of both genres, from murdered prostitutes and holographic billboard ads to AIs who flit between the real world and some convoluted cyberspace." The review praised how deeply the show examined and explored the cortical stack, the central concept.[49] Catherine Pearson of Digital Spy said the visuals were magnificent and the themes fascinating, but that it had flaws; for example, the characters "mumbling their way through long expository dialogue."[50]
The Vancouver Sun summarized that the reaction of professional critics was mixed, and that the critics' conclusion was that the "murder mystery takes a back seat to the show's futuristic visuals."[51] Entertainment Weekly also summarized reviews, saying the consensus was that the visuals were spectacular, but the violence against women raised questions.[52] Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B−" grade and wrote that the "show tackles race, gender, and class with all the subtlety of a blowtorch."[53] Forbes criticized other critics for speaking negatively of the show and called it "terrific"[54] and one of the best science fiction shows on television.[55] Andrew Liptak of The Verge called it engrossing, but criticized the lack of focus on the relationships between the characters.[56]
Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times gave it a mixed review, but particularly praised Kinnaman, even if the fight scenes were described as tedious in a way.[57] Jen Chaney of Vulture said the show was "ambitious, convoluted, violent, derivative, and somehow simultaneously grimy and glossy," but ultimately gave it a negative review, saying "the visual candy and philosophical subtext of Altered Carbon may wash over me, but none of it gets absorbed in any lasting way."[58] Radio Times wrote that the "drama tries to find its groove by shifting erratically from noir detective drama to war epic to soap opera, ultimately failing to meet its own lofty ambitions: it's a thunderous haymaker that only manages to graze its target." The review noted that the show takes on too much, and that much of the story could have been left for a second season.[7] Benjamin Lee at The Guardian gave the series 3/5, praising the "sheer ambitious scale of it all" and "it's an impressive step up from what we're usually offered." Lee compared it to the work of Paul Verhoeven only lacking the social commentary. He concludes "it's refreshing to see a show so unashamed about its pulpiness. The spectacle might grow stale but for now, the flash is blinding."[9]
Many critics focused on the show's violence. Gavia Baker-Whitelaw of The Daily Dot wrote that the show seemed to use "the dystopian setting as an excuse for sexualized violence," and that the focus on dead, naked women's bodies "was a massive distraction from the show's stronger points, like the well-choreographed fight scenes and Takeshi Kovacs' backstory."[59] Digital Spy defended the level of violence, arguing it accurately reflected the books, and was "the point" of the franchise, as "without showing brutal, unremitting violence, Altered Carbon would fail to fully explore the dystopian reality it aims to present."[60] Kimberly Roots of TVLine also criticized the scenes of violence and nudity, and also said the story suffered from uneven pacing. However, she noted that the investigation part "clicks along smartly," and that the fight sequences were "sophisticated". She gave it a "B−" grade.[61]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 81% based on 36 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While not quite there yet, a clearer sense of purpose and more defined characters help Altered Carbon sophomore season step closer to the brilliance of its source material."[62] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[63]
Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | 44th Saturn Awards | Best New Media Television Series | Altered Carbon | Nominated | [64] |
70th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Main Title Design | Lisa Bolan, Thomas McMahan, Yongsub Song, Byron Slaybaugh, Carlo Sa, Mert Kizilay | Nominated | [65] | |
Outstanding Special Visual Effects | Everett Burrell, Tony Meagher, Joel Whist, Jorge Del Valle, Steve Moncur, Christine Lemon, Paul Jones, Antoine Moulineau, David Zaretti for "Out of the Past" | Nominated | |||
2019 | 17th Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode | Everett Burrell, Tony Meagher, Steve Moncur, Christine Lemon, Joel Whist for "Out of the Past" | Nominated | [66] |
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project | Philipp Kratzer, Daniel Fernandez, Xavier Lestourneaud, Andrea Rosa | Won | |||
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode | Jean-François Leroux, Reece Sanders, Stephen Bennett, Laraib Atta | Nominated |
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